Steel casting.



PATENTED MAY 9, 1905.

F. NATHER.

STEEL CASTING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1904.

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F. NATHER.

STEEL CASTING.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 2, 1904.

No. 789,289.v

UNTTED STATES Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK NATI-IER, OF J OHN STOI/VN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE LORAINSTEEL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

STEEL CASTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,289, dated May 9,1905.

' Applicationled January 2, 1904. Serial No. 187,571.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK NATI-IER, of Johnstown, in the county oi'Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Steel Castings, of which the following is afull, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this speciiication.

My invention has reference to steel castings, and more particularly tocastings designed for use in railway-track construction, and is designedto free the casting from internal strains due to inequality oi' section.Considerable trouble has been experienced, particularly where specialsteels are used, to produce a perfect integral steel casting for use intrackwork, owing tothe difliculty oi' distributing the metal in thoseportions ot' the structure where the rail members or extensions meet-insuch a manner as to avoid the junction of parts of unequal section.I/Vhere such junctions occur, the iact that the thinner portion of metalwill cool more rapidly than the thicker portions, both inthe mold and insubsequent heat treatment, gives rise to internal strains which spoil orweaken the casting. By the present invention I avoid this result by sodisposing the metal that the junction of parts of unequal thickness isobviated and a casting is formed which is oi substantially equal sectionthroughout.

My invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure lis a plan View ol a track-structure castingembodying my invention; Figs. 2 and 3, similar views oi' portions o't'different structures; Fig. 4C, a section on the linee 4 ot Fig. 1; Fig.5, a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6, a plan View el amodilied form ol structure; Fig. "Z, a section on the line 7 7 of Fig.6, and Fig. 8 a plan View of a more complicated structure embodying theinvention.

Figs. l to 5, inclusive, illustrate my invention as applied to trackstructures oi the type which employ a removable plate or center, whichforms the track intersections. The

letters A A2 A: A designate the rail mem.- bers of the structure, havingthe head portions a, the webs (d, and the base portions a?. B designatesthe central connecting portion of the castings, formed with theplate-receiving core or pocket The central portions B of the castingshave been those portions of the castings which have presented thediiiiculty above noted owing to the junction oi' the several webportions c into a common central body. This I avoid by keeping said webportions separate and independent of each otherthat is to say, the webportions ofA the rail members A A are carried continuously through thestructure, as are also the said portions of the members A2 A3, the twoweb portions at the central portion of the structure being'substantially parallel with each other. This enables me to so disposethe metal that the casting has a substantially equal thickness orsection throughout, as will be seen from Figs. i and 5. It is desirablethat these web portions shall be thicker than the section of an ordinaryrail-web, not only to give increased strength to the structure, but alsoto make their section approximately equal to that of the portions A andB. Therefore at the point c in each of the rail members said portions aare gradually thickened, as shown. Beyond the points c said webs arepreferably of the same thickness as the web of the connectingtrack-rails in which the structure is to be connected, so that the usuallish-plates can be employed in making the joints.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the invention applied. to a structure which does notemploy an intersection plate or center.

Fig. 8 shows the invention applied to a crossing structure in whichadouble rail is crossed by a single rail. The thin web portions ai, a,and of are carried continuously through the central portion. B' of thestructure, the continuous web (t3 being common to the rail members ALtand A, the web Aportion c" to the rail members A and A7, and the web A5common to the rail members As and A.

My invention is obviously applicable to many other specilic forms oftrack structures,

in all of which it is to be broadly distinguished by the fact that therail members and the central portion are at all points in and adjacentto the central portion of substantially uniform thickness, and thestructure is free from the junction of relatively thicker and thinnerportions. Hence I do not wish to be limited to the particular structureswhich I have here shown for the purpose of illustrating' my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent. is-

l. A railway-track-structure casting, consisting of divergingrail-member portions, and a central connecting' portion, the metal insaid rail portions and in the said central portion being ofsubstantially uniform thickness, whereby the central part of thestructure is free from junctions of relatively thicker and thinnersections of metal.

2. A railway-track-structure casting', consisting ofdivergingrail-member portions, and a central pocketed body portion, themetal in said rail portions and in the central pocketed portion being ofsubstantially uniform thickness, and the central part of the structurefree from the junction of relatively thicker and thinner portions.

3. A railway-track-structure casting', consisting of a centralconnecting' portion and diverging' rail-member portions, saidrail-member portions being' connected in pairs by webs extending'continuously through the central portion.

t. A railway-track-structure casting', consisting of a centralconnecting' portion and diverg'ing' rail-member portions, saidrail-member portions being' connected by continuous independent webswhich extend through and support said central portion.

5. A railway-track-structure casting, consisting' of a centralconnecting' portion and diverging' rail-member portions, united bycontinuous independent webs which extend each of which is continuouswith the webs of.

two of the rail members.

8. A railway-track-structure casting, having' diverg'ing rail membersand a central connecting' portion supported by web portions each ofwhich is continuous with'and connects the webs of two of said railmembcrs,

said parts being all of substantially uniform thickness or section andfree from junctions of parts of unequal thickness.

9. A railway-track-structure casting, consisting' of a centralconnecting' portion and integ'ral diverging' rail members, saidconnecting' portion and rail members being of substantially uniformthickness throughout except at the end portion of the rail members wherethe web portions thereof are reduced to approximately the thickness ofthe web portion of a rolled rail.

10. A railway-track-structure casting having' two or more continuouswebs extending the full length of the structure and having' each anindependent base or foot.

ll. A railway-track-structure casting' having two or more continuousindependent webs extending the full length of the structure and ofreduced thickness at their end portions.

In testimony whereof I have afxed mysig'- nature in presence of twowitnesses.

FRANK NATHER.

W'tnesses:

L. OCoNNELL, H. I/V. SMITH.

